Data recording and retrieval, sheet music, music keyboard tablature and method of teaching music

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises a method of instructing a performer on the hand manipulations to make to play a piece of music. The invention includes a representation. The representation includes at least one time line which represents the elapse of time during the piece of music. Each time line is marked with beat indicia which indicate on the time line the occurrence of a beat in the music and indicia which mark the transition between bars. Symbols carry instructions on where the fingers are to be placed to define “home” keys, and other symbols carry instructions as to which fingers are to strike a key during a beat.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to recording and retrieval of data,to keyboard music and to a method of teaching keyboard instruments.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] The traditional musical notational system for Western musicdeveloped in Europe from the work of a monk named Guido d' Arezzo (Guidoof Arezzo).

[0003] That notational system conveys information about the melody,rhythm and harmony of a piece of music which has been written within theconvention of the grand staff.

[0004] Guido d' Arezzo was motivated primarily to find an unambiguousmethod of writing down the musical sound content of Gregorian chants. Hewas developing a notational system which was to be used by vocalists,not by instrumentalists.

[0005] Instrumentalists, unlike vocalists, produce music by the physicalmanipulation of a musical instrument. A trained musician can derivethose physical manipulations from the information that is containedwithin the conventional notation. For example, a pianist can read apiece of music in the conventional notation and decide which finger touse on which key of the keyboard to play each note.

[0006] The translation of music in conventional notation intomanipulation of the keyboard requires a high degree of skill, which isnot easy to acquire. The translation can also, in some respects, beambiguous.

[0007] Historically there have been some forms of tablature for keyboardand string instruments which set out some information about the physicalmanipulations of the instrument which should take place to play a pieceof music. These forms of tablature have, however, been developed as‘memory joggers’ for musicians who either already knew the music or whowould be using the tablature together with the conventional notation forthe piece of music.

[0008] It is accordingly an aim of the present invention to provide arepresentation of a piece of music which serves primarily as a set ofinstructions on the physical manipulations which a performer is toperform in playing a piece of keyboard music. It is a particular aim toprovide such instructions precisely and unambiguously.

[0009] It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a mediumfor the storage and retrieval of data. In particular, it is an aim ofthe invention to provide such a medium for which the data is a piece ofmusic.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention accordingly provides a representation of apiece of music which may be played by a performer on a keyboard, whichrepresentation includes:—

[0011] at least one time line which represents the elapse of time duringthe piece of music, and wherein there is associated with each timeline:—

[0012] beat indicia which indicate points in time on the time line; and

[0013] associated with each beat indicia, indicia of which fingers, ifany, are to play a note on the keyboard.

[0014] The present invention also provides a method of instructing aperformer on the manual movements to make in playing a piece of music,which method includes providing:—

[0015] at least one time line which represents the elapse of time duringthe piece of music, and wherein there is associated with each timeline:—

[0016] beat indicia which indicate points in time on the time line; and

[0017] associated with each beat indicia, indicia of which fingers, ifany, are to play a note on the keyboard.

PREFERRED FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

[0018] It is preferred that there are two such time lines, onecorresponding to each hand of the performer.

[0019] It is further preferred that there be indicia which indicate thebeginning of each bar.

[0020] It is further preferred that the representation includesinformation which instructs the performer as to which keys of thekeyboard are to be treated as home keys where performers are to resttheir fingers when not playing a note. It is particularly preferred thatthe representation includes information which instructs the performer tochange the home keys during the playing of the piece of music.

[0021] It is further preferred that the representation is used inconjunction with a keyboard which is marked to indicate the homepositions of at least one finger of each hand. It is particularlypreferred that the keys of the keyboard which play middle C, and thenote one octave lower in pitch than middle C, be marked. It is furtherparticularly preferred that each key which plays a ‘C’ note is marked.

[0022] It is further preferred that the representation includes indiciawhich indicate the movement that a finger is to make to strike a keyother than the home key for that finger.

[0023] It is further preferred that the representation includes indiciawhich indicate movement that the entire hand is to make so that a fingermay strike a key other than the home key for that finger.

[0024] It is further preferred that the representation includes indiciawhich indicate the movement that the entire hand is to make so that thefingers can strike a key other than the home ‘C’ keys for that hand.

[0025] It is further preferred that the representation includes indicia,associated with the beat indicia, indicating when each note is to beplayed relative to the beat indicia.

[0026] It is further preferred that the representation includes indiciawhich indicate the length of each note.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027]FIG. 1 represents a relationship between the conventional systemof music notation and a four octave musical keyboard.

[0028]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the two hands of a keyboard player.

[0029] FIGS. 3 to 27 are schematic representations of the relationshipbetween the traditional system of musical notation and the presentsystem of keyboard musical tablature for various types of notecombinations.

[0030]FIG. 28 is a graphical summary of some features of the notationalsystem according to the present invention.

[0031]FIG. 29 is a sample page as seen by a learner.

[0032] Preferred embodiments of the invention are described withreference to the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] The lower portion of FIG. 1 shows a four octave portion of amusic keyboard 1. The portion of the keyboard 1 which is illustratedspans four octaves of pitch Five of the keys are marked, in the drawingonly, as follows:

[0034] C₁ and which plays a note which is two octaves in pitch belowmiddle C;

[0035] C₂ and which plays a note which is one octave in pitch belowmiddle C;

[0036] C₃ and which plays the note which is known as middle C;

[0037] C₄ and which plays the note which is one octave in pitch abovemiddle C; and

[0038] C₅ and which plays a note which is two octaves in pitch abovemiddle C.

[0039] It is to be understood that the convention described abovediffers from the piano tuners' convention for identifying the keys of astandard seven octave piano keyboard.

[0040] The upper portion of FIG. 1 shows the treble stave 2 and the bassstave 3 of the traditional musical notation system. The verticalpositioning of a note relative to the treble stave 2 indicates the pitchof a note which is to be played with the right hand. Similarly, thevertical positioning of a note relative to the bass stave 3 indicatesthe pitch of a note which is to be played with the left hand.

[0041]FIG. 1 shows the relationship between:—

[0042] the vertical spacing of notes relative to the staves; and

[0043] the key of the keyboard which plays that note.

[0044] A note which is printed at the vertical position 4 relative tothe bass stave is played by striking the key which is marked C₁ on therepresentation of the keyboard 1. A note which is printed at thevertical position 6 on the bass stave 3 corresponds to the key C₂ on thekeyboard. The note which can be printed at any one of the three verticalpositions shown as 7, 8 and 9 is middle C and corresponds to the key C₃on the keyboard. Similarly, the notes which are printed at positions 11and 12 on or relative to the treble stave correspond to the keys markedC₄ and C₅ on the keyboard.

[0045] The operation of the tablature system according to the presentembodiment of the invention involves the application of a numberingsystem to indicate the individual fingers of the performer's left andright hands. This convention is shown in FIG. 2, which shows the fingersof the left hand 16 as denoted by the numbers from 1 for the thumb to 5for the little finger. Similarly, the convention is shown in FIG. 2 asdenoting the fingers of the right hand 17 by the numbers from 1 for thethumb to 5 for the little finger.

[0046] The operation of the tablature system according to the presentembodiment of the invention also involves the identification of ‘home’positions for the performer's hands, and thus of the fingers of thehands, relative to the keyboard. In the tablature system according tothe present embodiment, the home positions for the performer's hands maychange during the playing of a piece of music.

[0047]FIG. 3 illustrates how a method of tablature according to thepresent invention relates to a conventional keyboard. A representationof the present tablature system as it could appear in sheet music isgenerally indicated by the bracket 18. The embodiment of the inventionas shown in FIG. 3 illustrates music with a ‘four four’ (₄ ⁴) timesignature, that is with four beats to the bar, each beat being of theduration of a quarter note.

[0048] The representation 18 includes a line of text 21 which reads ‘RH1 on C₃ LH 5 on C₂’ to indicate that the ‘home’ positions allocatefinger 1 of the right hand to the key C₃ and finger 5 of the left handto key C₂.

[0049] The representation 18 also includes a line 22 and a line 23. Thelines 22 and 23 are prefixed with the symbols ‘R.H.’ and ‘L.H.’respectively, indicating that the line relates to the right hand andleft hand of the performer respectively. Each line 22 and 23 includes arun of beat markers 24 which are preferably in the form of underscorecharacters. The beat markers 24 are arranged in a horizontally extendingline. A vertical bar marker 26 separates each beat. It is preferred thateach bar marker 26 be in the form of a relatively short, verticallyextending line. Because the music which is represented by FIG. 3 has a ₄⁴ time signature, each bar marker 26 separates each group of four beatmarkers 24.

[0050] The piece of music which is shown in the conventional musicnotation system 27 in FIG. 3 consists of nine notes, four of which areon the bass clef and five of which are on the treble clef. The keys ofthe conventional keyboard which correspond to those nine notes aremarked on the portion of keyboard which appears at 28 in FIG. 3. Thecorresponding representation of the music according to the presentembodiment of the invention is shown at 18. That representation consistsof the numbers 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 on the line 23 and of the numbers 1, 2,3, 4 and 5 on the line 22.

[0051] Each of these numbers is vertically aligned above a beat marker24 to indicate that fingers 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 of the left hand are tostrike their respective home keys on successive beats and that fingers1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the right hand are to strike their respective homekeys on succeeding beats.

[0052]FIG. 4 illustrates a piece of music 31 represented in theconventional notation system, while the keyboard 32 shows the keys whichare struck in playing the piece of music 31. The music 31 is representedaccording to the present invention at 33.

[0053] The piece of music 31 has eight ascending notes. The pitches ofthe first five of these notes is such that they are played bysuccessively striking the home keys of fingers 1 to 5 of the right hand.

[0054] The sixth, seventh and eighth notes are respectively one, two andthree key positions to the right of the fifth finger of the right hand.To indicate that the sixth note 37 is played by moving the fifth fingerof the right hand one key to the right from its home position to beforestriking a key, the sixth note in representation 33 is shown with asuperscript of a single ‘plus’ sign, that is as 5⁺.

[0055] To indicate that the seventh 38 note is played by moving thefifth finger of the right hand two keys to the right from its homeposition before striking a key, the seventh note in representation 33 isshown with a superscript of two vertically aligned ‘plus’ signs, that isas 5⁺ ⁺ .

[0056] Similarly, to indicate that the eighth note 39 is played bymoving the fifth finger of the right hand three keys to the right fromits home position before striking a key, the eighth note inrepresentation 33 is shown with a superscript of three verticallyaligned ‘plus’ signs.

[0057] It is preferred that a symbol in the form of a skewed bracket 41be placed above the notes 37, 38 and 39 to indicate that these notes areplayed by moving a finger from its home key.

[0058]FIG. 5 illustrates a piece of music 41 represented in theconventional notation system, while the keyboard 42 shows the keys whichare struck in playing the piece of music 41. The music 41 is representedaccording to the present invention at 43.

[0059] The piece of music 41 has eight descending notes. The pitches ofthe first five of these notes is such that they are played bysuccessively striking the home keys of fingers 1 to 5 of the left hand.

[0060] The sixth, seventh and eighth notes are respectively one, two andthree key positions to the left of the first finger of the left hand. Toindicate that the sixth note 47 is played by moving the first finger ofthe left hand one key to the left from its home position to beforestriking a key, the sixth note in representation 43 is shown with asuperscript of a single ‘minus’ sign, that is as 1⁻.

[0061] To indicate that the seventh 48 note is played by moving thefirst finger of the right hand two keys to the left from its homeposition before striking a key, the seventh note in representation 43 isshown with a superscript of two vertically aligned ‘minus’ signs, thatis as 1⁻ ⁻ .

[0062] Similarly, to indicate that the eighth note 49 is played bymoving the fifth finger of the left hand three keys to the left from itshome position before striking a key, the eighth note in representation43 is shown with a superscript of three vertically aligned ‘minus’signs.

[0063] It is preferred that a symbol in the form of a skewed bracket 51be placed above the notes 47, 48 and 49 to indicate that these notes areplayed by moving a finger from its home key.

[0064]FIG. 6 illustrates a piece of music 51 represented in theconventional notation system, while the keyboard 52 shows the keys whichare struck in playing the piece of music 51. The music 51 is representedaccording to the present invention at 53.

[0065] The piece of music 51 has five ascending notes which are numbered54 to 58. The pitch of the first of these notes is middle C, and it isplayed by finger number 1 on its home key C₃. The second to fifth notes(numbered 55 to 68) are each two key widths to the right of each offingers 2 to 5 respectively.

[0066] Accordingly, the notes 54 to 58 are played by placing finger 1 ofthe right hand on its home key and displacing all the other fingers ofthe right hand by one key position to the right.

[0067] This initial arrangement of the fingers away from the home keysis indicated in the representation 53 according to the present inventionby the instruction ‘R.H. 1 of C3 with 2^(+>). In the composite symbol‘2^(+>)’ the symbol ‘^(>)’ indicates a shift of multiple fingers to theright, the single plus symbol ‘⁺’ indicates that the shift is by one keywidth, and the symbol ‘2’ indicates that all the fingers from fingernumber 2 up to 5 move.

[0068] The numbers ‘1’ to ‘5’ appearing at positions 61 to 65 in therepresentation 53 according to the present invention then indicate thatfingers 1 to 5 are used to play the notes.

[0069]FIG. 7 illustrates a piece of music 71 represented in theconventional notation system, while the keyboard 72 shows the keys whichare struck in the playing of the piece of music 71. The music 71 isrepresented according to the present invention at 73.

[0070] The piece of music 71 has eight ascending notes numbered 74 to81. The pitches of the first three of these notes (the notes which arenumbered 74, 75 and 76) are such that they are played by successivelystriking the home keys of fingers 1 to 3 of the right hand.

[0071] The fourth to eighth notes (the notes which are numbered 77 to81) are the ascending notes immediately following the first three noteson the keyboard. These five notes are played by the performer tuckingthe thumb of the right hand (that is, finger 1 of the right hand) to theright under fingers 2 and 3 to strike the key which is immediately tothe right of finger 3, and then moving the entire hand to the right toplay the four notes 78, 79, 80 and 81.

[0072] To indicate that the first three notes 74 to 76 are played bystriking keys at the home positions of the first three fingers of theright hand, the representation 73 according to the present inventionshows the numbers ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’ at positions 82, 83 and 84 onrepresentation 73.

[0073] To indicate that the fourth to eighth notes are played by movingfirst the thumb, and then the entire hand to the right to play the fivenotes 77 to 81, the representation 73 shows an arrow 91 which spans onekey width, and the numbers ‘1’ to ‘5’ at positions 85 to 89.

[0074]FIG. 8 illustrates a piece of music 91 represented in theconventional notation system, while the keyboard 92 shows the keys whichare struck in playing the piece of music 91. The music 91 is representedaccording to the present invention at 93.

[0075] The piece of music 91 has eight descending notes numbered 94 to101. The pitches of the first five of these notes (the notes which arenumbered 94 to 98) are such that they are played by placing finger 5 ofthe right hand on the note C₄ to establish home keys for the right handand then successively striking the home keys of fingers 5 to 1 of theright hand.

[0076] The sixth to eighth notes (the notes which are numbered 99 to101) are the descending notes immediately following the first five noteson the keyboard. These three notes are played by the performer movingthe fingers 3 and 2 to the left over finger 1 (the thumb) to play note99 by striking the key which is immediately to the left of finger 1,with finger 3 and note 100 with finger 2, and then picking up the thumband sliding it under fingers 2 and 3 to play note 101.

[0077] To indicate that the fingers of the right hand are to be placedon home keys to play the first five notes 94 to 98, the representation102 according to the present invention includes the instruction ‘R.H. 5on C₄’. Further, to indicate that these first five notes 94 to 108 areto be played by striking keys with fingers 5 to 1, the representation102 is marked with the numbers ‘5’, ‘4’, ‘3’, ‘2’ and ‘1’.

[0078] To indicate that the sixth to eighth notes are played by movingfirst finger 3, and then the entire hand to the left to play the threenotes 99 to 101, the representation 93 shows an arrow 111 which spansone key width, and the numbers ‘3’ to ‘1’ at positions 108 to 110.

[0079]FIG. 9 illustrates a piece of music 121 represented in theconventional notation system, while the keyboard 122 shows the keyswhich are struck in playing the piece of music 121. The music 121 isrepresented according to the present invention at 123.

[0080] The piece of music 121 has seven ascending notes numbered 124 to130. The pitch of the first of these notes (numbered 124) is by placingfinger 1 of the right hand on middle C (the key marked C₃) to establishhome keys for the right hand and then moving finger 1 one key to theleft to strike the note which is one key to the left of C₃.

[0081] The second to sixth notes (the notes which are numbered 126 to129) are the five ascending notes following immediately to the right ofthe first note. These three notes are played by the performersuccessively striking the keys which are the home keys for fingers 1 to5 of the right hand.

[0082] The seventh note is the ascending note following immediately tothe right of the sixth note on the keyboard. This note is played by theperformer moving finger 5 of the right hand one key position to theright and striking that key.

[0083] To indicate that the fingers of the right hand are initially tobe placed on home keys to play the seven notes 124 to 130, therepresentation 123 according to the present invention includes theinstruction 141 ‘R.H. 1 on C₃’.

[0084] To indicate that the first note 124 of these seven notes is to beplayed-by moving finger 1 by one key lower in pitch, the position 133 inrepresentation. 123 is marked with the symbol ‘1⁻’.

[0085] To indicate that the notes 125 to 129 are to be played bystriking the keys corresponding to the home positions of fingers 1 to 5,the positions 135 to 138 on representation 123 are marked with thefinger numbers ‘1’ to ‘5’ respectively.

[0086] To indicate that the seventh note 130 is to be played by movingfinger 5 by one key higher in pitch, the position 139 in representation123 is marked with the symbol ‘5⁺’.

[0087]FIG. 10 illustrates the operation of the present invention inrelation to apiece of music which includes semitones, and thus in whichthe performer's fingers must move to the black keys of the keyboard toplay the music.

[0088] The Figure illustrates a piece of music 151 in the conventionalnotation system while the keyboard 152 shows the keys which must bestruck in playing the piece of music 151. The music 151 is representedaccording to the present invention at 153.

[0089] The piece of music 151 has seven ascending notes numbered 161 to167. The pitch of the first of these notes (numbered 161) is by placingfinger 1 of the right hand on middle C (the key marked C₃₎ to establishhome keys for the right hand and striking the key C₃.

[0090] Similarly, the second note 162 of the piece of music is played bystriking the home key for finger 2 of the right hand.

[0091] The third note 163 is an ‘E-flat’ key, denoted by the ‘flat’symbol ‘♭’ before it. This symbol indicates that the note is a half tonein pitch below middle E. The black keys on the keyboard 152 are the halftone keys, and the black key corresponding to ‘E₃-flat’ is the black keywhich is numbered 159 in FIG. 10.

[0092] The fourth, fifth and sixth notes of the piece of music 151 arethe notes which are numbered 164, 165 and 166. They are played bystriking the home keys for fingers 3, 4 and 5 of the right hand.

[0093] The seventh note of the piece of music 151 is the note which isnumbered 167. It is preceded in the traditional notation 151 by the‘sharp’ symbol ‘#’, which indicates that the note is ‘G₃ sharp’. Thisnote is played by striking the black key which is one half note higherin pitch than is the home key for finger 5 of the right hand.

[0094] The representation 153 according to the present inventionincludes the instruction 141 ‘R.H. 1 on C₃’ to indicate the homepositions of the fingers of the right hand for playing the piece ofmusic 151.

[0095] To indicate that the notes 161 and 162 are to be played bystriking the keys corresponding to the home positions of fingers 1 and2, the positions 169 and 170 on representation 153 are marked with thefinger numbers ‘1’ and ‘2’ respectively.

[0096] To indicate that the third note 163 is to be played by movingfinger 3 by one black key lower in pitch, the position 171 inrepresentation 153 is marked with the symbol ‘3^(♭)’.

[0097] To indicate that the fourth, fifth and sixth notes 164, 165 and166 are to be played by striking the keys which correspond to the homepositions of fingers 3, 4 and 5 the positions 172, 173 and 174 inrepresentation 153 are marked with the symbols ‘3’, ‘4’ and ‘5’respectively. (Unlike the operation of conventional notation rules forsharps, flats, naturals and key signatures, the absence of a ‘flat’superscript in conjunction with the numbers ‘3’, ‘4’ and ‘5’ indicatesthat the keys to be struck by those fingers are the white keys.Similarly the same convention applies to ‘sharp’ superscripts. Numberswithout the ‘sharp’ and ‘flat’ superscript are always white keys. Noteswith such superscripts are always black keys.)

[0098] To indicate that the seventh note 167 is to be played by strikingmoving finger 5 by one black key higher in pitch, the position 175 ismarked with the symbol ‘5^(#)’.

[0099]FIG. 11 illustrates the operation of the present invention inrelation to a piece of music which includes semitones and extensions ofthe player's fingers away from home keys.

[0100] The Figure illustrates a piece of music 181 in the conventionalnotation system while the keyboard 182 shows the keys which must bestruck in playing the piece of music 181. The music 181 is representedaccording to the present invention at 183.

[0101] The piece of music 181 has seven ascending notes numbered 191 to197. The pitch of the first of these notes (numbered 161) is by placingfinger 1 of the right hand on middle C (the key marked C₃₎ to establishhome keys for the right hand and then moving finger 1 to keys to theleft and striking that key.

[0102] The second and third notes 192 and 193 are played by striking thehome keys for the second and third fingers of the right hand.

[0103] The fourth note 194 is an ‘E-flat’ key, denoted by the ‘flat’symbol ‘♭’ before it. This symbol indicates that the note is a half tonein pitch below middle E. The black keys on the keyboard 152 are the halftone keys, and the black key corresponding to ‘E₃-flat’ is the black keywhich is numbered 187 in FIG. 11.

[0104] The fifth note of the piece of music 181 is the note which isnumbered 195. It is preceded in the traditional notation 181 by the‘sharp’ symbol ‘#’, which indicates that the note is ‘G₃ sharp’. Thisnote is played by striking the black key which is one half note higherin pitch than is the home key for finger 4 of the right hand.

[0105] The sixth note 196 in the piece of music 181 is played bystriking the home key 189 for the fifth finger of the right hand.

[0106] The seventh note 197 in the piece of music 181 is preceded by thesharp symbol #. The composite symbol indicates the note is one half toneabove the note which is one octave above middle C. To play this note,the fifth finger of the right hand si moved one key to the right andthen to the next higher black key, numbered 190 in the representation ofhe keyboard 192.

[0107] The representation 183 according to the present inventionincludes the instruction 198 ‘R.H. 1 on C₃’ to indicate the homepositions of the fingers of the right hand for playing the piece ofmusic 181.

[0108] To indicate that the note 191 is played by moving finger 1 of theright hand by two keys to the left to strike a key, the position 199 inthe representation 183 is marked 1.

[0109] To indicate that the notes 192 and 193 of the piece of music 181are played by fingers 1 and 2 of the right hand, the positions 200 and201 in the representation 183 are marked 1 and 2 respectively.

[0110] To indicate that the note 194 is played by moving the thirdfinger of the right hand from the home position to the black key whichis a half tone lower in pitch than the home key for finger 3, theposition 202 in the representation 183 is marked with the symbol 3^(♭).

[0111] To indicate that the note 195 is played by moving finger 4 of theright hand to the black key which is a half-tone higher in pitch thanthe home key for finger 4, the position 203 is marked with the symbol4^(#).

[0112] To indicate that the note 195 is played by moving finger 4 of theright hand to the black key which is one half-tone higher in pitch thanthe home key for finger 4, the position 203 in the representation 183 ismarked with the symbol 4^(#).

[0113] To indicate that the note 196 is played by striking the home keyof finger 5 of the right hand, the position 204 in representation 183 ismarked with the symbol 5.

[0114] To indicate that the note 197 is played by moving the fifthfinger of the right hand by both a key width to the right plus amovement to the black key which is one semi-tone higher in pitch, thesymbol ‘5’ at position 204 of the representation carries both of thesuperscripts ‘+’ and ‘#’.

[0115]FIG. 12 illustrates how various chord forms are representedaccording to the present invention.

[0116] Chord forms are represented according to the traditionalnotational system at 211, with the corresponding form according to thepresent invention at 212.

[0117] The first bar of music 214 consists of four semibreves whichsound for the length of the bar. They are played by simultaneouslystriking home keys 1, 3 and 5 of the right hand and home key 5 of theleft hand on the first beat of the bar 214.

[0118] These finger movements are represented by the three symbols ‘1’,‘3’ and ‘5’ for the right hand and ‘5’ for the left hand verticallyaligned at 218. Each of the symbols ‘5’, ‘3’ and ‘1’ for the right handhas a ‘tie’ symbol extending the length of bar to indicate that the noteis to sound for the entire length of the bar.

[0119] The left hand C₂ note of bar 214 is repeated in bars 215, 216 and217 of the music 211. This is emphasised in the representation 212 bythe series of ties 222, 223 and 224 connecting these notes from bar tobar.

[0120] The music which is to be played by the right hand in the bar 215is a minim of pitch C₂; to be played on the first beat of the bar andtwo minims, of E and G pitch, to be played simultaneously on the secondbeat of the bar. This is shown in the representation 212:—

[0121] by the symbol ‘1’ on the first beat with a tie extending theduration of the two beats; followed by

[0122] the symbols ‘5’ and ‘3’ appearing on the third beat of the bar,with a tie extending the duration of two beats (to the end of the bar).

[0123] The music which is played during the bar 216 is four crotchets,being the notes C₂, E, G and E played in succession on successive beatsof the bar. This is shown in representation 212 by the symbols ‘1’, ‘3’,‘5’ and ‘3’ appearing on the markers for successive beats of the bar.

[0124] The music which is to be played during bar 211 is a chord of twocrotchets of pitch C₂ and to be played on the first beat of the bar, anda chord of two crotchets of pitch E and G to be played on the third beatof the bar. The finger instructions for this bar are shown inrepresentation 212 by:—

[0125] the two symbols ‘1’ and ‘3’ on the first beat of the bar,combined with a tie symbol which extends to the end of the second beat;and

[0126] the symbols ‘3’ and ‘5’ on the third beat of the bar, combinedwith a tie symbol which extends to the end of the fourth beat of thebar.

[0127] FIGS. 13 to 17 show representations according to the presentinvention of several chord forms, in conjunction with therepresentations of those chord forms according to conventional musicalnotation. These Figures are illustrative of the principles which are setout in preceding parts of this specification, and are self explanatoryin the light of those principles, except for the use of the symbolswhich are indicated at 220 and 221 in FIG. 14 and which are called ‘tobe occupied by’ symbols.

[0128] The symbols 220 and 221 are arrows curving downwards and upwardsrespectively along the time lines. The ‘to be occupied by’ symbol whichcurves downwards from the number ‘3’ to the number ‘1’ in the first barof the music indicates that the right hand is to be moved to the rightso that the key position that was occupied by the third finger is to beoccupied by the first finger when the had movement is complete.

[0129] The ‘to be occupied by’ symbol 221 which curves upwards from thenumber ‘1’ to the number ‘3’ indicates that the right hand is to bemoved to the left so that the key position that was occupied by thefirst finger is to be occupied by the third finger when the handmovement is complete.

[0130] Musical notes are of differing, but standardised duration. Therepresentation of note duration according to the present invention isillustrated by reference to FIGS. 18 and 19.

[0131] The piece of music 230 of FIG. 18 is in a ₄ ⁴ time signature. Thefirst bar 232 for the left hand has a single note of pitch C₂ whichlasts four beats (a semibreve). This note is shown at 223 in therepresentation according to the present invention by the symbol ‘1’appearing on the first eat of the bar at 233 in conjunction with the‘tie’ symbol 234 extending the duration of the bar. The symbol ‘1’indicates that the note is to be played by striking the home key offinger 1 of the right hand and the tie symbol indicates that the note isto be played for the duration of the bar.

[0132] The second bar 236 for the right hand has two notes, each ofwhich lasts two beats (that is, they are both minims), and arerespectively of pitch D and E.

[0133] These notes are shown at 237 and 238 in the representation 231according to the present invention by the symbols ‘2’ and ‘3’ appearingon the first and third beats of the bar 236 with the ‘tie’ symbols 239and 240 each extending for the duration of half the bar. The symbols ‘2’and ‘3’ respectively instruct the player to play these notes by strikingthe home keys of the fingers 2 and 3 of the right hand.

[0134] The third bar 242 for the right hand has four notes, each ofwhich lasts one beat (that is, they are all crotchets) and are of pitchF, E, D and C respectively. The notes are shown at 243 in therepresentation 231 according to the present invention of the symbols‘4’, ‘3’, ‘2’ and ‘1’ appearing on the four successive beats of the bar242. These four symbols instruct the player to play four notes bystriking the home keys for the fourth, third, second and first fingersof the right hand. Because these symbols, and no other symbols, appearwithin the bar 242 for the left hand the player allows the note to soundonly during the beat on which it appears in representation 231.

[0135] The fourth bar 246 for the right hand has eight notes, each ofwhich lasts half a beat (that is, they are all quavers) and are of pitchD, E, F, G, G, F, E, D and C respectively.

[0136] The notes are shown at 247 according to the present invention bythe symbols ‘23’, ‘45’, ‘43’ and ‘21’ appearing on the four successivebeats of the bar. These four symbols instruct the player to play themusic by striking:—

[0137] the home keys for fingers 2 and 3 successively during the firstbeat of the bar;

[0138] the home keys for the fingers 4 and 5 successively during thesecond beat of the bar;

[0139] the home keys for the fingers 4 and 3 successively during thethird beat of the bar; and

[0140] the home keys for the fingers 2 and 1 successively during thefinal beat of the bar.

[0141] The piece of music 251 of FIG. 19 is in a ₄ ⁴ time signature.

[0142] The first bar 252 in the music 251 has eight triplets. That is,it has four groups of three notes, each group of three notes to beplayed in the time for two quavers (one beat). This note combination isshown in the representation 252 according to the present invention as athree digit symbol connected by a tie symbol and the superscript ‘3’ oneach beat of the bar.

[0143] The second bar 253 of the piece of music 251 has four groups offour notes, each group of notes to be played during one beat (that is,the notes are semiquavers).

[0144] This note combination is shown in the representation 254according to the present invention as a four digit symbol on each beatof the bar.

[0145] In FIG. 20, the first bar of the piece of music 260 shows a timerest for the duration of a semibreve, that is a short thick lineparallel to, touching and below the fourth line of the treble stave.This rest indicates that there is no note played during the bar.

[0146] The representation 265 according to the present invention isshown at 261 as a continuous horizontal line extending the duration ofthe bar.

[0147] The music 260 also shows the rests for the minim at 257, for thecrotchet at 258 and for the quaver at 259. The representation 265according to the present invention shows the equivalent instructionsrespectively as:—

[0148] a horizontal line 262 extending for two beats (half a bar);

[0149] a horizontal line 263 extending one beat (a quarter of a bar);and

[0150] a horizontal line 264 extending one beat.

[0151] In FIG. 21, the third and fourth bars show a tie 268 connectingtwo semibreves of middle C pitch, each at the beginning of a bar. Thistie denotes that the second note is not actually struck, but that theactual duration of the first note is to be two bars.

[0152] The equivalent instruction to the player in the representation269 according to the present invention is the symbol ‘1’ appearing onthe first beat of the first bar 270 to instruct the player to strike thehome key for finger 1, and a ‘tie’ symbol 271 extending the fullduration of two bars to instruct the player to maintain the note for twobars.

[0153]FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate various time signatures according tothe present invention, and are self explanatory in the light of thepreceding description of the invention.

[0154]FIGS. 23 and 24 illustrate how the home positions for the handsmay vary during a piece of music.

[0155]FIG. 24 shows a piece of music 275 in which the initial homeposition for finger 1 of the right hand is on key C₄. In the second,third and fourth bars the home positions for finger 1 of the right handchange to E₃, E₄ and G₃ respectively. This is shown in therepresentation 276 according to the present invention by the symbols‘C₄’, ‘E₃’, ‘E₄’ and ‘G₃’ numbered 277,278,279 and 280 respectivelyappearing on the begging beat of the first to fourth bars.

[0156] Similarly, the changes in the home positions for the right handto play the piece of music 285 of FIG. 25 are shown by the symbols ‘E₃’,‘C₄’, ‘G₃’ and ‘D₄’ in the representation according to the presentinvention at 286.

[0157]FIG. 26 shows how the keyboard technique of ‘shifting’ isrepresented according to the present invention.

[0158] The first and third bars of the piece of music 301 start with achord (303 and 305 respectively) which is played by striking the homekeys of the first, third and fifth fingers of the left hand. The secondhalf of each bar is a chord (304 and 306 respectively) which is playedwith the fingers of the left hand which were not used to play the firstbar. That is, to play the second bar, the second and fourth fingers ofthe left hand strike their home keys.

[0159] This alternation between the fingers of the hand is shown at 307and 308 respectively in the representation 302 according to the presentinvention.

[0160] It can also be seen from FIG. 26 that the third bar of music isplayed with the same fingers as is the first bar of music; and that thefourth bar of music is played with the same fingers as is the second barof music. However in each case the notes of the bars are two keys higherin pitch. This is indicated by the instructions for the right hand of‘RH1 on C₃’ for the first and second bars and ‘RH1 on E₃’ for the thirdand fourth bars.

[0161] Similarly, the left hand is moved two key spaces higher in pitchbetween the second and third bars with the instructions ‘LH5 on C₂’ and‘LH1 on E₂’.

[0162]FIG. 27 illustrates alternative embodiments of the invention inwhich both the initiation and the duration of the sound of the notes maybe specified.

[0163] The embodiment 321 includes the bar lines 326 and the fingernumbers 324 as do the preceding embodiments. The present embodimentadditionally includes beat point markers in the form of small crosses322 which mark the beat point. In this embodiment, the length of thelines 326 indicate the duration of the note (or notes) within the beat.

[0164] The embodiment 331 of the present invention is for a piece ofmusic which is played staccato, that is, in which each note sounds forhalf the duration of a beat interval. This is indicated by the lines 332being half the usual length, and by the short line 333 appearing undereach finger number.

[0165] The embodiment 341 of the present invention is for a piece ofmusic which is played staccatissimo, that is, in which each note soundsfor a quarter of the duration of a beat interval. This is indicated bythe line 342 being one quarter of the usual length, and by the dot 343appearing under each finger number.

[0166] The embodiment 351 of FIG. 27 is for a piece of music which isplayed mezzo-staccato, that is, in which each note sounds forthree-quarters of the duration of a beat interval. This is indicated bythe line 352 being three-quarters of the usual length, and by a dot 353appearing under each finger number.

[0167]FIG. 28 summarises part of the notational system which isdescribed in detail above by showing the fingers of the right handplaced relative to the keyboard, and shows the manner in which variouskeys of the keyboard would be designated relative to that hand position.

[0168]FIG. 29 shows the notation as presented to a learner with thecorresponding conventional notation staff by staff on the LH and RHsides of a page.

[0169] I have found the advantages of the above example to be:—

[0170] 1. Concise presentation.

[0171] 2. The notation mimics the traditional music notation in that itis read in lines from left to right.

[0172] 3. More information is given than in traditional music notation.

The claims defining the invention are as follows:—
 1. A musical notationfor instructing a performer on the manual movements to make in playing apiece of music on an instrument, including the provision of at least onetime line representing the passage of time during the piece andassociated with a time line is a beat indicia which shows points in timeof the time line and associated with each beat, indicia of whichfingers, if any, are to play a note on the instrument without therepresentation of a keyboard.
 2. A musical notation as claimed in claim1 wherein two time lines provide in one corresponding to each hand ofthe performer.
 3. A musical notation as claimed in claim 1 or 2 whereinthe beginning of each bar is indicated by indicia.
 4. A musical notationas claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein indicia show to theperformer which keys are home keys where the performers rest the fingerswhen not playing a note.
 5. A musical notation as claimed in any one ofclaims 1 to 4 where the indicia show the performer when to change thehome keys during the work.
 6. A musical notation as claimed in claim 5wherein indicia show the movement that a finger is to make to strike akey other than the home key for that finger.
 7. A musical notation asclaimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein indicia show movement forthe entire hand so that a finger strikes a key other than the home keyfor that finger.
 8. A musical notation as claimed in claim 7 whereinindicia show the movement for the entire hand so that the finger strikea key other than the home ‘C’ key for that hand.
 9. A musical notationas claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein indicia associated with abeat indicia indicate when each note is to be played relative to thebeat indicia.
 10. A musical notation as claimed in claim 9 wherein theindicia show the length of each note.
 11. A musical notation as claimedin any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the note length is expressed byone or more hyphens between a pair of bar lines and a series of numbers1 to 5 corresponding to the fingers placed side by side between the samebar lines.
 12. A musical notation as claimed in any one of claims 1 to11, wherein the notation is presented side by side with thecorresponding traditional staves showing conventional musical notation.13. A musical notation substantially as herein described with referenceto and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
 14. A method oftranscribing conventional stave data to the format of any of claims 1 to11.